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Dear Friends,
It's time to write you about December, 2001. What a blessed year for our mission it was! Many reasons for praising our Lord! Hallelujah!!!
Like most of the year, December was very hard. Let me explain to you; because of the economic situation, many people lost their hope and the children are living in homes where you can find too few smiles, few food, few light, few talking about tomorrow. Everything is so pale and "too few" or maybe it's better to say "too little, too poor." High prices for everything: too little salaries. The families incomes are so small that they cannot cover with it even the bills for the flat. What to talk about food, light, school supplies or anything else.
Seems to be day by day more hard to face this life in a country where the differences are do big, where the corruption is do high, where the poverty is so high that people are dying of starvation or are freezing because they have no place to live in or have no money to afford home, just because the families are so, so poor.
All this December we tried to keep the spirit of Christmas and that's why we feed better the children. We didn't stop work even Sunday, but we gave the opportunity for all children to take a bath in the Grumbach's home or in our mission's flat.
And we worked hard to finish well the first semester of school and to prepare for the Christmas celebration. It took a full month, but we felt more the joy of Jesus' birth. We tried to bring joy all around, but first we wanted to bring the joy in children's hearts. And praise the Lord, we did it.
Many miracles happened in this month. First we received $500 from the church where Patsy is going, then a lady from Germany wanted to send for each child a gift and so we received 50 parcels for 50 children on a snowy and windy night when two German men came an put in our flat 50 shining parcels with each child's name on one. Then another friend of Mr. Grumbach send more parcels for our children. Together with Mr. Grumbach we worked several hours to put together enough parcels for a total of 62 children!
Just then we realized that our mission grows, that we are more and more and still we cannot receive all the children who are asking us to receive them. But even so, we receive in a mission a family with eight children in a very, very hard condition and so, so poor and unhappy. We prepared gifts for them all, but only Anne-Marie, a 14-year-old girl, can come to the small mission's flat.
Another miracle is that Mr. Grumbach found a way to take a new flat for the mission. If it's the Lord's plan, next year we might have a new flat for the mission and we'll have more room for more children.
We continue to feed as many as we can, the children from the mission and the village. They are in such bad and sad conditions that we often go to them to give them something warm and make them a joy. Even in the night we went to their home with soup made by Mr. Grumbach with spaghetti and wheat cream to feed them. We bought some meat and 15 breads, some milk and other things to let them have a New Year with something to eat. In their home we could hardly find a candle to have some light, it was so dark, but when we light the candle, 10 pair of little eyes were shining and they all started to smile and hug us and say "We have food."
It is so sad for a mother to see her children crying for food and to come back home with nothing to feed the children, but with the Lord, all things are possible. Like in the night, when the children received food to eat. We thank the Lord for this opportunity and for all those who are making it possible to let these things happen.
We had the most wonderful Christmas celebration. We celebrated the Jesus' birth in one of the best quality hotels from Romania: Hilton Hotel. God allowed Mr. Grumbach to talk to the president of Hilton Hotel, one of Hertz's customers and the president gave to the mission a gift, a dinner for 60 people! And some more food for children from the village. More than 75 people ate this Christmas, thanks to the Lord's love. What a huge blessing! And the next day we went to the village to give food and gifts. It so sad and no heat in houses. We gave the good news: The Lord is born! You have to come and see the eyes of all these children; the most special story of life. And all this because of the Lord's plan.
Thanks to you who are making His plan possible through your generosity and love.
We spend the money received from you in this way:
$100 - The rent of flat
$58 - The income for flat
$30 - The electricity
$58 - The bills for flat
$54 - The phone, email, tv
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$300
And now, the money from Patsy's church money:
$65 - The gasoline, oil for village
$100 - Food for mission flat
$85 - Christmas costumes, clothes for a part of the children
$20 - To family Ghita for doctors for children
$30 - For Dorin's exam
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$300
We still have money, $200. We'll use a part of the money for Gelu's surgery. And we had $90 from Bautch Patrick to buy tickets and help the children to go home safely. We take care of seven children transportation.
Looking back at this year we want to praise again and again our Lord and to thank you again and again for your love, for your many helps, for your prayers, for love and care.
For the New Year we wish you many blessings, peace and faith, joy and much prosperity! We love you and praise the Lord for each of you who are part of mission work.
A Blessed and Happy New Year
Mia, Costell and all Mission
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